JACQUIRE KING Retreat

We did it! A new chapter began here when from January 27 – 29, Gatos Trail Recording Studio hosted a three-day producer/mixer retreat with Jacquire King (Zach Bryan, Kings Of Leon, Tom Waits, Norah Jones, etc…). In conjunction with SoundAdvice and Sonic Summit we brought 13 attendees, a 6 piece band, 2 chef’s and 5 crew members to the desert for this amazing experience. On day 1 we were greeted by a rare snow storm which put a punctuation on the unique environment and helped to solidify the community spirit of the event. From there on we were off to the races!

Here is a breakdown of our time in the studio with Jacquire:

Day 1: Jacquire tracked a 6 piece band (Statesboro Revue) showcasing his engineering techniques and highlighting his unique approach to drum recording. He also explained his use of space, gobos and bleed when recording a live band performing together in the same room. We learned about his use of outboard gear, polarity and phase relationships and his use of the DAW.

Day 2: We focused on the mixing of the Statesboro Revue session as Jacquire explained how he blends the mix elements and zeroed in on his use of saturation and filtering. After a brief break, guests brought their own projects in to get valuable feedback on. Jacquire touched on everything from mixing to the songwriting elements of their tracks.

Day 3: Jacquire took a deep dive into his catalogue of work including hit singles from Zach Bryan, Kings Of Leon and more plus he told insider stories of those sessions. We also took a look at the plugins he used, low end management, vocal chains, compression and eq choices. Finally, Jacquire fielded questions about some of his most notable work and gave powerful insights into the business side of being one of today’s top producers/mixers.

During the event attendees were served amazing meals on-site each day which gave everyone a chance to mingle and discuss each other’s backgrounds and studio techniques. It was a true bonding experience where people from all over the country (and Australia) got to share their music and tell their stories. Many new friends and many new memories were made.

We are currently working on our next retreat which is being planned for the first week of May 2025 featuring another A-list producer. We can’t wait to meet new friends and make new memories in the near future. Hope to see you there, stay tuned!

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